So I went and bought a set of new Matchmaster dies for 6mmARC. They were over $200 before shipping and tax, so quite pricey. Didn't even include the bushing, and using the included instructions, I calculated that a .267 bushing was what I need. Now I see that there is no .267 bushing from RCBS.....Hmmmmmm. I can use the .266 bushing from my Redding 6BR dies, but it is strange that RCBS doesn't make the .267 size bushing.
On to bullet seating. Seems that when I adjust the seating die to as low as I can in the press, touching the ram, I still have to drop that sliding seating stem to the lowest position in the die to get the bullet to seat at the appropriate overall length in the cartridge. I have the E-clip at the highest point, which lets the seater stem hang as low as it can. That means that the stem blocks the window and prevents me from dropping a bullet into the window for seating, and the bullet can't drop past that stem. My older RCBS Competition dies included an extended shell holder that passes up into the seating die, and affords plenty of room in that window for dropping in a bullet, but these Matchmaster dies use a standard shell holder and for my 6mmARC application, the window is blocked.
Am I missing something here, or am I doing something wrong? As mentioned in prior communications, I have competition dies in 7mm08 (in the wood box), and also in .223, and I really like them. I can see how a longer cartridge case would not have this blocked window problem, and I know RCBS makes an extended shell holder for the Hornet, but any idea on what can I do to use that window on the 6mmARC?
On to bullet seating. Seems that when I adjust the seating die to as low as I can in the press, touching the ram, I still have to drop that sliding seating stem to the lowest position in the die to get the bullet to seat at the appropriate overall length in the cartridge. I have the E-clip at the highest point, which lets the seater stem hang as low as it can. That means that the stem blocks the window and prevents me from dropping a bullet into the window for seating, and the bullet can't drop past that stem. My older RCBS Competition dies included an extended shell holder that passes up into the seating die, and affords plenty of room in that window for dropping in a bullet, but these Matchmaster dies use a standard shell holder and for my 6mmARC application, the window is blocked.
Am I missing something here, or am I doing something wrong? As mentioned in prior communications, I have competition dies in 7mm08 (in the wood box), and also in .223, and I really like them. I can see how a longer cartridge case would not have this blocked window problem, and I know RCBS makes an extended shell holder for the Hornet, but any idea on what can I do to use that window on the 6mmARC?
